Forgotten Childhood
by Rianne Pond
Summary: Otonashi still can't remember his childhood, and Naoi believes that hypnosis is the only way for him to recall them. While Otonashi does his best to ignore the overzealous vice president he can't help, but to fantasize about if he'd known Hinata when he was younger. When his mind wanders though, he says something unexpected...


**This is a requested story from CsillaDream!**

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**Forgotten Childhood**

"Otonashi?" Hinata murmured. I heard him speaking very close to me. If I'd opened my eyes he would have been nose to nose with me. Why it was necessary for him to be so near just to ask me a question, I wasn't sure. I took a deep breath. Why did I agree to this? I've never been one to believe in things like this; I guess it had something to do with the incessant begging of Naoi.

"Shh, you have to be quiet for the hypnosis to work," Naoi snapped, slapping Hinata. There was the sound of a slight squabble as Hinata probably shoved back at the stuck up vice president. After the noise became too loud to ignore I opened my eyes and watched them wrestling over who would hypnotize me. After we broke them up Hinata mumbled something about being as inferior as toilet paper. This was all getting too overwhelming.

I wanted to remember. There wasn't any bit of me that wished to forget my death, but they told me that the amnesia was normal. It just usually didn't last this long. Naoi was convinced that he could draw my childhood from the unwilling clutches of my memories with hypnosis. Yuri hadn't exactly told him to go ahead and do it, but the fact that she hadn't killed him for suggesting it made him apt to try it.

"Well, I don't see it working," Yuri mumbled, fiddling with the bow of her headband. I glanced up at her and gave her that pleading look that I'd mastered after spending time with Not Dead Yet Battlefront. She smiled half-heartedly. She knew that the fact that I myself couldn't drag up the memories was enough to make me sick to my stomach and truthfully I think she wished that this would have worked. I did too.

"No, please Otonashi let me try again!" Naoi yelled, climbed up over Hinata and begging at my feet. "I can do it for you, I promise!" he swore, his eyes large at the thought of possibly impressing me or making me proud. To say that I condoned his strange obsession would be incorrect, but I didn't object to it because he seemed to be a better person when he obsessed. I shrugged and sighed.

"Sure, try again, but don't do anything to Hinata again," I warned, laying my head back on the couch and waiting for him to attempt once more. I smelled the candle burning and heard the mumblings of the young boy. Maybe I should have tried harder to clear my mind and let the memory float up, but instead I found myself creating a childhood of my own. What if I'd known all of them when I was younger? I knew it was impossible, but it was an entertaining idea.

I yawned and fluttered my eyelashes as I felt myself getting drowsy. Maybe this was working. Maybe Naoi wasn't nearly as incompetent as Yuri thought he was. I fell asleep to the whispering voices of the three of them doting over me.

"Otonashi!" the blue haired boy yelled, frolicking through the field. "Are you up for a game?"

I laughed and ran to the pitching mound that we'd made out of his mom's extra potting soil. He came to a stop and tossed me the baseball with his customary dimpled smile already on his face. I laughed and caught the ball with two hands.

"With only two players?" I asked, rolling the tiny ball in my hands and peeking up to his excited grin. His face didn't change at the suggestion of a problem he barely looked fazed, didn't even take a breath.

"Sure! It'll be fun right?" he asked, jumping up and giving me a pouty look. "Please Otonashi!" I laughed reached out to take his extra glove. After letting out a squeal of joy he ran off to find one of the few bats he had the strength to raise. I tossed the ball up and took my spot up on the mound. Even holding up the two-sizes-too-big bat he had a huge grin on his face. He loved playing baseball, and he loved it even more with Otonashi.

"Are you ready for this?" I mocked, drawing up my leg as though I actually knew how to pitch. The soft ball to him floated right into his path of travel. The crack of the ball against the bat caused me to begin sprinting after the ball rolling towards second. Hinata was fast on his feet as the barefoot boy sprinted to first base and right on through to get a double. I felt the wind whipping my face as I ran after the ball and touched him just before his grimy little toes touched the base.

"Aw!" Hinata exclaimed, panting for breath as he walked dejectedly back to home. "I've got this next one!" he reassured, waving his hand at me as if to make his point solid. I shook my head and flipped the red hair from my eyes. That boy was impossible. I told him two person baseball wouldn't work. I wound my arm and threw it with all my might at the boy. Hinata hit it smoothly, sending it sailing over the garden shed and into the neighbor's yard. I broke into laughter suddenly.

"Nice hit Hinata!" I yelled to him. His eyes were round as saucers as he stared off into the distance.

"Man I love this game!" he yelled, fist pumping at his success. "Oh, I have another!" he remarked, digging in his bag for the extra. He threw it to me, which I clumsily caught and readied myself once more. He shuffled over to the bat and got ready again, obviously liking the event of winning. This time he struck out quickly as he was too excited to actually focus. His little hands shook on the large grip of the bat while he fantasized about being a famous baseball player.

When we switched he pitched it to me much harder than even my hardest pitch. I stopped and stared at him, complaining along the lines of "play fair". Luckily he took pity on me and tossed it a bit slower. I made contact and kicked up dust under my bare slapping feet. When I stopped at first he stood uselessly with the ball.

"We don't have another batter," I stated, looking at the lonely home plate. He sighed and chewed on his lip, picking pieces of dirt off of the ball.

"It'll be your point then," he said contemplatively. "Looks like you're up again."

The entire way back to home base, I laughed about the sheer magnitude of ridiculousness we had reached. What was he thinking with two person baseball? I picked up the bat and widened my stance. The ball came in, right in my reach, and I hit it way out. Hinata was already sprinting to reach it as I ran through first hoping to get home before him. When I peeked over my shoulder I didn't even see him.

Suddenly, the force of the small boy barreling towards me took me to the ground. He rolled over me until the continuous movement ceased. We landed partially atop each other, mostly tangled like the careless friends we were. He laughed, his head resting on my stomach, about his incredible run. I rubbed my face, knowing my mother would kill me for getting so dirty.

"You're out!" he called, handing me the ball. I took it from him and sighed.

"Otonashi!" Hinata screamed, once again in inordinate proximity to my face. I felt my eyelids fluttering as he shook me, his hands tightly holding my arm. I opened my eyes and yawned before realizing that the three of them were staring at me with wide eyes.

"You remembered," Yuri uttered her voice low and calm. I shook my head and laughed.

"No, that was just a dream," I reassured, partially wishing that it hadn't been. What if that had been real? What a perfect childhood. Hinata and I would have been even closer than we were now if that had been the case. It was really too bad.

"You said something though," Naoi added in just to prove that what Yuri had said was true. I smiled and shook my head. There was no way my conscious mind had been fantasizing about baseball with Hinata while subconsciously I told them my history.

"What did I tell you?" I begged them to humor me.

"Hatsune," Hinata whispered. "Who's Hatsune?"

It hit me like a brick wall.

I wanted to curl up and cry. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten. I was guilty and I felt that guilt seeping in every pore, but I knew she would have wanted me to move on. I'd been given an incredible opportunity to start anew and fight for something real. Hatsune would have wanted me to find love. She would have wanted me to have friends and I think the afterlife had offered me both.

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**I'd like to think that Hatsune would approve of her brother's relationship with Hinata right? Hope you liked it! Remember to REVIEW, FAVORITE, FOLLOW and READ my other stories!**

**Also, I'm still taking requests, but be warned they may take a while as life is getting hectic :)**


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